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No swollen joints but pain in joints and tendons

Posted , 7 users are following.

robin25779
robin25779

I have had psoriatic arthritis since my late twenties and in general it has been manageable.  However in the last 6 months things have really flared up.  I now have pain in my ankles, knees, right hip, lower back along my Iliac crest and left shoulder. One of the weirdest things is that tendons across the top of my feet, the backs of my legs behind my knees,  across the tops of my legs, inside of my wrists and inside of my left arm feel like I have a terrible case of cramp and tightness. I've been put on naproxen which helps a little. I was wondering if anyone has ever had experience of this pain pattern?

many thanks for any advice or experience of this.

Rob

1 like, 9 replies

9 Replies

  • CA-Lynn
    CA-Lynn robin25779

    Posted

    Actually, I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis WITHOUT psoriasis. My condition appeared literally overnight.

    I can tell you that I've read a lot of patient histories over the 20+ years I've had PsA and there is no set pattern of onset. More and more I read about a bacterial infection  being the trigger to the onset of full-blown symptoms.

    Assuming you're in the UK or country with socialized medicine, I urge you to demand an immediate referral to a board certified rheumatologist where an appropriate diagnosis and aggressive treatment can be made/started. You see, if you let it wait, the damage to the joints is irreversible.

    You need to know that there are hundreds of arthritic diseases that are autoimmune. For that reason, only a rheumatologist is experienced and educated to give you the proper diagnosis. So many of the diseases have very similar symptoms.

    Please don't be satisfied to wait or to have your GP get the tests rolling.

    Lynn

    PS  feel free to message me if you have further questions.

    • adele1978
      adele1978 CA-Lynn

      Posted

      Hi Lynn,

      I'm the same I was diagnosed a year ago but have never has psoriasis. I've been on Methotrexate but couldn't tolerate it so am going to be started on Golimuab injections. My fingers are really bent already.

      Adele

  • pat62
    pat62 robin25779

    Posted

    You have almost described my own pain problem.  My dr does not take much notice of any of my pains as I have ME and it seems that there is an automatic assumption that any pains are caused by fibromyalgia which often accompanies ME. 

    Blood test were coming back negative for arthritis, but I pushed and was given a rheumatology appointment.  Although psoriasis is in my family, I have never has more than pustular psoriasis on hand and feet.  The rheumatologist, asked lots of,questions, among which was 'is there psoriasis in the family" and when I said yes, he then Proceeded to examine me, and each place he applied pressure caused intense pain. His reports called it "exquisite pain".   He explained that I had psoriatic enthesopathy.  It seems that this is a new discovery connected to psoriasis, known about in Germany, but not yet fully understood.  As far as I can understand it is an inflammation where the tendons go into or join the bone.  I have tried to google and research, but there does not seem to be a lot of information to be found.  I get some relief from a daily consumption of ginger, turmeric and black pepper. 

    Still trying to find out more myself, and trying to discern what is the ME and what is the psoriatic enthesopathy.  Hope my sharing this info helps you a bit.

  • david12607
    david12607 robin25779

    Posted

    THis is my situation, and have finally gotten a dr to move me from naproxen onto DMARDs. Naproxen does nothing for the long term and really is only a reactive treatment to ease your current situation. Can your Dr. say why only naproxen, as the current view in the UK and USA is aggressive early treatment is the way to go to stop long term damage and achieve remission. I am not an expert but some medical professionals believe that the majority of PA cases dont cause bone errosion, i cannot say if that assumptions is correct or wrong, but i would always move to the side of caution and take preventative measures.
  • karen20616
    karen20616 robin25779

    Posted

    hi Rob ,I joined her today as i too have just been told i have psoriatic arthritis i started mtx six weeks ago ! I feel like crap! 

    but im having the same pain that you are getting across the top of my foot legs ankels ,knees my ankles swell up and knees alot ,and i find it hard to drive and walk, all my joints crack but they hurt when they do ,even sitting on the loo is the same ,i have good days and bad days ...today is a bad day for me .

    Hope you are feeling better 

    Karen

  • Guest
    Guest robin25779

    Posted

    Robin, your experience sounds like my own. I have PsA, but my inflammation is primarily in my tendons, not my joints. If you looked at my hands and feet, you would never guess I have PsA. My joints look totally normal. (I sometimes wonder if I really do have PsA, since my joint pain doesn't resemble what most people describe.) But I have had serious discomfort in my sacro-iliac joint, and to a lesser extent, my knees, due to inflammation in the tendons. I also recently had a couple of weeks with exactly the type of inflammation you describe in the tops of your feet. So weird! An anti-inflammatory drug does help with the tendon inflammation. I take methacin as needed, and it has helped a lot. I also take methotrexate, which is sort of controlling the psoriasis, but not all that well. Another thing that few people here discuss, but which bothers me so much, is flu-like symptoms: chills, aches, fatigue, sensitive skin. It comes over me every 36 to 48 hours and lasts an hour or so. Curious: do you experience this? Good luck with your treatment.
    • robin25779
      robin25779 Guest

      Posted

      Hi Robert.  I definstly see the similarities which was is always reassuring!  My joints are starting to become more problematic in terms of my hips and knees and lower back but still predominantly mey tendons.  Im not on methotrexate they have just started me on sulfasalzene (4 weeks in) so just seeing how that goes.  I do believe though it can have similair side effects as mtx...fun and games!!

       

  • rachy796
    rachy796 robin25779

    Posted

    Hi Rob, ive had psoriasis for around 18 years, and only now experiencing pain in my hips, knees and fingers, I'm waiting to see rheumatologist, hopefully they can sort it out before it gets worse, ive been having cramps in my fingers, which ive never had before, and it scares me, I used to be so active, and I want to keep being active. So any advice you could give me, that would be great.

    Rachel.

    • robin25779
      robin25779 rachy796

      Posted

      Hi rachy796. Ive had psoriatic arthritis since my late 20's and am now 45.  Its course is so varied as I have left a very active life right up until the last 2 years and particularily since late last year where the disease just seems to have gone nuts.  I also have a 2 year old and 4 year old so life is pretty full on.  Prior to the last 2 years I had really bad flare ups which would then settle down but this isnt the case recently and it becomes increasingly challenging doing anything more than day to day tasks and just being as good a parent as I can be.  Giving advice is difficult as you just dont know how its going to progress but what I would say is just enjoy every day as much as you can and be as active as you can.  I am physically less able but I have an appreciation for things that I never thought I would now.  Theres a really good book about using mindfulness for managing chronic paine called Mindfulness for Health which has helped me a lot in mentally coping with the disease.  Good luck with rheumotology I have a mixed experience of them but generally theyve been helpful and have recently put me on sulfasalazene (think thats how you spell it!) which my bodys tloerating so far but it will be interesting to see if it does anything (fingers crossed).  All the best and let me know how you get on.

       

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